


A Score to Settle

by LibraryMage



Series: Across the Stars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dark Ezra Bridger, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Obi-Wan Kenobi Raises Luke Skywalker, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26785006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: “My master has a score to settle with yours,” the boy said.  He raised his lightsaber hilt, idly examining it, as if bored.  “Once that’s done, we won't need you anymore.”“He won't just walk into your trap,” Luke said.  “He’s smarter than that.”“We’ll see,” the boy said with a shrug.  “My master says Kenobi’s always done foolish things when he thinks someone he loves is in trouble.”----Luke is kidnapped by an old enemy of Obi-Wan's.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker
Series: Across the Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953103
Comments: 10
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't intend to write anything for this AU yet, but Whumptober got me inspired and this happened. Believe me when I say that Maul wasn't even supposed to show up in this AU, but he weaseled his way in somehow.
> 
> Whumptober prompt: kidnapped
> 
> Luke and Ezra are both 12-ish.

Luke woke to the sound of metal clanking against rock.

He opened his eyes just a crack. From his position sprawled out on the floor, he could see a pair of feet pacing across the space in front of him. Metal feet that hit the ground with a soft _clack_ with each step they took.

The cold metal of binders pressed into his wrists and ankles, sending fear creeping up his spine. He let his eyes fall closed again as he drew in a deep breath, reigning that fear in, just like Obi-Wan had taught him.

 _Focus on the problem in front of you,_ he told himself. He could sense two sentient individuals in the space with him. The one he could see was still pacing, apparently oblivious to the fact that Luke had regained consciousness. First thing he had to do was get out of these cuffs while he still had that advantage.

The moment Luke pushed against the locks on the binders, a voice spoke up from somewhere behind him.

“He’s awake.”

The voice was young. Probably just a kid. So not Imperials, then. After all the warnings Obi-Wan had given him about what the Empire did to people like them, he doubted even the most jaded and bored stormtroopers would leave him guarded by a cadet.

Before he could think it through any further, a hand seized Luke’s arm, dragging him up onto his knees. Knowing that pretending to be unconscious wouldn’t do him any good now, he opened his eyes. The person grasping his arm was a Zabrak, black tattoos creating intricate patterns across his bright red skin.

“Luke, isn’t it?” the Zabrak asked. His voice was strangely smooth, might even be calming in any other situation. When Luke said nothing, the man’s grip tightened, bruising fingers digging into his arm until he gasped and nodded.

“You are going to tell me how to contact your master,” the Zabrak said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luke said. He was certain the bounty hunter – or whatever he was – would see right through him, but he wasn’t about to lead these two back to his family without a fight.

The moment the Zabrak released him, Luke felt something tightening around his throat. His eyes widened as the saw the man’s hand reaching toward him, fingers curled like claws. The man was using the _Force_.

“I don’t believe you understand the gravity of your situation,” he said, a razor-sharp edge to his voice. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled Luke backward, slamming him against the wall and letting him tumble to the ground. “Tell me how to contact him.”

“No.” Luke hissed the word out through gritted teeth.

“Very well,” the Zabrak said, advancing on him. “If you aren’t going to cooperate…”

A cold pressure began to build behind Luke’s eyes. He could sense the Zabrak’s stabbing at his mind, trying to force his way in. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on that sharp, painful point of contact. It only dug deeper, pressing into him until he gasped and slumped over.

“S-stop.” His drew in a short, sharp breath through gritted teeth. “Please.”

“ _Tell me._ ”

Some desperate, self-preserving instinct took over and Luke found himself rattling off the encrypted frequency that he and Obi-Wan used to communicate.

“That’s better,” the Zabrak said with a grin.

His gaze turned to a dark corner, where Luke assumed the other bounty hunter was.

“Watch him.”

With that, the Zabrak turned on his heel and stalked out of the space. For a moment, Luke stayed on the ground, panting as the pain in his head began to fade. Obi-Wan had described what a mind probe felt like, but the reality was worse than Luke could have imagined.

At long last, Luke sat up, not an easy task with his ankles bound, and took in his surroundings. He was in a cavern. Three dark, narrow tunnels branched out from the walls. He must be in the caves just north of Anchorhead.

Turning his head, Luke finally caught sight of the other figure skulking in the shadows. It was a kid, no older than Luke himself. Maybe even younger. A metal cylinder that Luke immediately recognized as the hilt of a lightsaber was clutched in his hand, the emitter tapping against his leg. Dark hair hung around his face in an uneven cut. The bruises on his jaw and neck told the story of some kind of altercation less than a week ago. And Luke could sense the Force humming around him, like the drop in pressure before a sandstorm hit.

“What?” the boy snapped when he saw Luke staring.

“Nothing.” Luke tried to make himself sound as amiable as possible even as his head still pounded from the Zabrak’s attack. “Just wondering why you and your friend kidnapped me is all.”

“My master has a score to settle with yours,” the boy said. He raised his lightsaber hilt, idly examining it, as if bored. “Once that’s done, we won't need you anymore.”

“He won't just walk into your trap,” Luke said. “He’s smarter than that.”

“We’ll see,” the boy said with a shrug. “My master says Kenobi’s always done foolish things when he thinks someone he loves is in trouble.”

“He knows I can take care of myself,” Luke said. It was true, though he knew Obi-Wan wouldn’t just leave him to handle what he was now certain weren’t normal bounty hunters alone.

The boy’s yellow eyes narrowed and Luke could sense his annoyance crackling in the air around him.

“Maybe I should give him some incentive to show up, then,” he said. His thumb hovered over his lightsaber’s activation switch for a moment before he seemed to shrink back. He lowered the weapon, turning away from Luke and beginning to pace.

“You’re lucky my master wants to keep you alive for now,” he muttered. Luke could sense a flicker of resentment behind the boy’s words. He might be able to use that.

“He seems like a piece of work.”

The other boy let out an irritated huff, but otherwise ignored him. For a moment, Luke remained silent, simply watching the boy pace back and forth across the small cavern. Anger and impatience roiled through the air around him like sand churned up by the wind. But beneath it was a steady current of fear. As the boy glanced down the tunnel the Zabrak had disappeared into, Luke once again caught sight of the bruising on his neck. Maybe it was time for a different tactic.

“He give you those bruises?” he asked.

The boy shot a cold glare at him, but said nothing as he continued to pace.

“Like I said. Piece of work.”

This time, the other boy rolled his eyes, that flare of annoyance returning.

“As if your master hasn’t done the same to you,” he said.

The matter-of-fact statement took Luke by surprise. The thought of his master ever hurting him intentionally was so bizarre he could barely imagine it.

“He hasn’t,” he said. “Ever.”

Another annoyed huff.

“No wonder you were so easy to capture,” the boy said. “A weak master turns out a weak student.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed, anger surging up in his chest. He barely realized he had opened his mouth before the words were already out.

“I think the only weak one here is the one who beats up little kids.”

All at once, his throat went so tight that his vision blurred. The boy stopped pacing, turning to face him with one hand outstretched.

“He. is not. _weak,_ ” the boy growled.

Luke went flying once again, thrown sideways into one of the cavern walls. That invisible grip caught him before he hit the ground and flung him into the opposite wall. This time, he was allowed to fall, and as he hit the rough stone and dirt, a plan formed in his mind.

He stayed down, going limp and holding his breath. He could feel the boy’s eyes on him, and as the seconds dragged by, he sensed that undercurrent of fear growing and growing.

“Get up.” The boy almost sounded worried as he said it. Luke didn’t move.

“No,” the boy muttered. “No, no, _no_.”

Hurried footsteps drew near until Luke felt the boy crouch down next to him. A hand grasped at his neck, searching for a pulse.

Luke snapped into action, biting down on the hand that reached for him. At the same time, he pushed through the Force, opening the lock on the cuffs that bound his ankles. The boy let out a furious growl, slamming the hilt of his saber against Luke’s temple and wrenching his hand away. Luke lunged upward, driving his head into the boy’s stomach. As the boy began to fall back, Luke grabbed his wrist, securing one cuff around it. Wrenching the boy’s body forward, he locked the other cuff around his ankle.

He lurched to his feet and bolted, heading down one of the other tunnels that branched off from the cavern. A furious yell sounded from behind him and a moment later, he heard the harsh crackling buzz of a lightsaber slashing through the air. Luke dropped to the ground, pressing himself against the wall as the red blade soared over his head, sparks flying as it clipped against the rock. Reaching out, he called the weapon to his still-cuffed hands and turned. As he plunged the blade into the rock wall, he caught sight of the other boy, still on the cavern floor with his wrist and ankle bound.

Luke dragged the saber down, carving through the stone and Pulling at chunks of it, letting it block the path back to the cavern. It wouldn’t hold them off for long, but it would give him a little extra time to get away.

As he switched the lightsaber off, he stared down at it for a moment. Something felt _off_ about it. The weapon resonated with the Force, just like the crystal inside his own saber, but it was like there was something _wrong_ with it. If a sound could be described as mutilated, that was the word Luke would have used. Like a pained cry rather than a quiet song.

Shuddering, Luke dropped the saber to the ground and took off down the tunnel. Leaving a possible means of defense behind might not be a smart move, but he wanted as much distance between himself and that twisted feeling as possible.

He kept up his pace as he raced through the tunnels, only slowing down for a moment as he freed himself from the remaining set of cuffs. Obi-Wan had used these very same caves to teach him how to guide himself through unfamiliar environments using the Force, and now those lessons were paying off. Luke could sense dead ends and steep drops before he came to them. And from all that exploring as a kid, he knew there were plenty of other ways out.

As he ran, he reached out through the Force, feeling both for the presence of his kidnappers and his master. The Zabrak and the boy were still back where he’d left them, probably trying to get through the barrier Luke had created. Obi-Wan was even farther away, but through their bond Luke could sense abject fear. He focused in on his master’s signature, doing everything he could to tell him that he was safe and he’d escaped.

As long as he could find his way out of here, he’d be fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke kept every sense, both Force-based and mundane, on high alert as he trudged through the desert. He wanted to keep running, but common sense told him to pace himself. He was still a long way from home, and though he could sense his master’s presence drawing closer, he couldn’t pinpoint it exactly.

But it wasn’t long before he saw a figure in the distance. He stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing. With the suns having just dipped below the horizon, it was too dark to identify the figure from this far away. But as the bond buzzed with warmth in the back of his mind, he realized just who it was.

Now, Luke _did_ run. Within moments, he was at his master’s side, panting as he skidded to a halt. Obi-Wan placed a hand on his shoulder and held out a canteen.

“Here,” he said.

Luke took it and quickly gulped down the precious water inside it.

“Thanks.”

He glanced back over his shoulder, as if his captors would appear behind him again at any moment. He hadn’t sensed either of them since he’d emerged from the caves, but he doubted they would give up so easily.

Something pressed into Luke’s palm and he looked down to see Obi-Wan handing him his lightsaber. He’d left it at home that day, foolishly thinking that nothing dangerous enough to need it ever happened on Tatooine.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Obi-Wan said. He sounded almost amused, though Luke knew better. He’d known Obi-Wan his whole life and would have been able to tell his words came from worry even if they didn’t share a Force bond. “This weapon is your life. Don’t lose it.”

“Technically, I didn’t _lose_ it,” Luke said.

The half-smile that crossed Obi-Wan’s face warmed Luke’s heart, driving away the last shreds of the fear that still clung to him. With his master here, he would be okay, even if those two showed up again.

Obi-Wan put a hand on Luke’s shoulder, steering him north and west. Luke glanced up at his master in confusion.

“This isn’t the way home.”

“I know,” Obi-Wan said. “We’re not going home, Luke. It isn’t safe for us to stay on Tatooine any longer.” He gave a quiet sigh. “We should have left ages ago.”

“Master,” Luke said, glancing at the man out of the corner of his eye. “What’s going on? Who _was_ that?”

“His name is Maul,” Obi-Wan said. “He’s an old enemy, and a persistent one. I thought he was dead. If I’d known he wasn’t, I would have told you.”

Luke suppressed a shudder as he remembered the pure hatred in the Zabrak’s eyes. This new information and the sight of the other boy’s red blade led him to an obvious conclusion.

“They’re Sith, aren’t they?” he asked.

“They?”

“There was someone else with him,” Luke said. “A kid, about my age. Maybe younger. He had a red blade, and I could sense… his presence in the force was so angry. All twisted and cracked.”

“An apprentice,” Obi-Wan muttered, seemingly more to himself than to Luke. “I never thought…” he shook his head, keeping the rest of the statement to himself.

“They are,” he said. “Though I doubt Maul is operating on the Emperor’s orders.”

His grip grew tighter on Luke’s shoulder for a moment before he let go. A deep current of sorrow tugged at their bond.

“I’m sorry, Luke,” Obi-Wan said. “Maul’s grudge against me goes so far back, but I never thought you would be dragged into it.”

“You’re my master,” Luke said. “And my family. Your battles are mine, too.”

“Don’t let yourself see things that simply,” Obi-Wan said. “Blind loyalty to his master’s teachings is why Maul is still hunting me after all these years, even if he hates the man more than he hates me.”

Luke didn’t know what to say to that, but luckily, he didn’t have to say anything. The low skyline of Anchorhead appeared on the horizon and Obi-Wan quickly changed the subject, seeming relieved to talk about something other than Maul.

“We’ll go to Mos Eisley from here,” Obi-Wan said. “Once we’re there, we’ll find passage off of Tatooine. Right now, it doesn’t matter where we go as long as we put this place behind us.”

He sighed once more, a soft sense of fondness emanating from him as he took in the sight of the endless expanse of sand.

“I _am_ sorry, Luke,” he said. “This isn’t how I wanted you to leave your home behind.”

Luke shook his head.

“You’re my home, Uncle Ben,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where we are.”

His master’s hand settled on his shoulder once more. Luke smiled as he followed the man’s lead toward the horizon.


End file.
